Connecticut to Limit Involvement in Secure Communities

June 13, 2013
By
Law Offices of James A. Welcome

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Connecticut legislature has passed a bill that will limit the state’s
participation in the Secure Communities program and protect immigrants
from deportation. The federal Secure Communities program is a nationwide
legal program that has local police detain witnesses and victims of crimes.

Last year, a New Haven resident, Josemaria Islas, was arrested for stealing
a bicycle but was proven to be innocent of the crime. He is now in federal
prison awaiting deportation. Islas’s sister stated, “Hispanics
can’t feel safe when they see police.”

Under the Transparency and Responsibility Using State Tools (TRUST) Act,
local police can only detain a person if the person was convicted of a
serious crime, is on a terrorist watch list, is in a violent gang, or
already has an outstanding deportation order. The TRUST Act passed unanimously
in the Connecticut House and Senate. Governor Malloy is expected to sign
the bill into law.

The purpose of the bill is to make communities safer because immigrants
will not be afraid to report crimes to the police, allowing them to have
more trust in the police to protect them. Local police should not be seen
as an extension of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but as protectors
of their local communities. As of now, it is very difficult for immigrants
to trust police and undocumented residents do not want to report crimes
because they are afraid of being deported.

What do you think of the TRUST Act? Let us know in the comments below!

For more information about Islas’s case and the TRUST Act,
click here!

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